Bill Pulte tapped to oversee CIA, FBI, NSA

Bill Pulte, the pugnacious head of the FHFA, will soon oversee all 18 intelligence agencies in the U.S., including the CIA, FBI & NSA. Seriously!

President Trump posted on Truth Social on Tuesday that he is appointing Pulte to serve as Acting Director of National Intelligence.

The appointment comes two weeks after Tulsi Gabbard announced that she would step down from her role as Director of National Intelligence in June.

“William has deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America, the safety and soundness of the Markets, and over 10 Trillion Dollars at Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, a substantial increase from where it was just 12 months ago. During this period, he will remain Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and Chairman of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac. Congratulations to Director Pulte!” Trump wrote.

Wowowowow, totally insane. OK, let’s unpack this a little bit & look at who might oversee the GSEs (formally or informally) if he takes the intelligence job.

Pulte, the grandson of homebuilding pioneer William Pulte, does not appear to have any experience in the military or intelligence. But of course he is famously loyal to Trump, which appears to be the only qualification needed 🤷‍♂ .

The White House did not immediately explain how Pulte plans to balance the responsibilities of the intelligence community w/ his ongoing duties at FHFA.

Under Pulte’s leadership, the agency has pushed for sweeping changes at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, including management shakeups, RIFs & renewed discussion about the future of the GSEs.

He’s also gone after political enemies of Trump, targeting Lisa Cook, Tish James & Adam Schiff for mortgage fraud. He has gone 0 for 3 on the mortgage fraud crusades to date. Notably, Pulte has also been accused of misusing the limited data that he did have access to. He’s also close w/ Ed Martin, a far-right activist who ran the Justice Department’s “weaponization” task force.

Pulte has famously clashed w/ other members of the administration, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who reportedly threatened to “punch him in the fucking face” at a dinner party in D.C. for allegedly talking smack about him to Trump.

Though Pulte does have some supporters in the mortgage industry, his relationship w/ the MBA & other stakeholders could be called chilly. He snubbed the MBA at its capital markets conference in New York a few weeks ago & even barred Fannie & Freddie execs from appearing at panels. Industry pros have at times expressed disappointment at a lack of policy initiatives since he took office.

Running the FHFA is a hugely important job, but on a day-to-day basis it is simply no comparison to running national security for the U.S. I don’t see a scenario in which Pulte could be deeply engaged in housing matters while overseeing sensitive intelligence work.

If Pulte, who just turned 38, ultimately shifts full-time to intelligence & gives up day-to-day control of FHFA, here are a few names that might take over, formally or informally.

The simplest move would be for the White House to designate a senior GSE official as acting director while searching for a permanent replacement. That would minimize disruption as FHFA navigates GSE reform (which Pulte hasn’t been particularly involved in anyway), capital requirements & potential conservatorship-related decisions. Mike Hutchins at Freddie could be a name to watch. Alternatively, the vice chair at Fannie is Mike Stucky, an HVAC executive who was the CEO of Pulte Capital Partners, Pulte’s PE firm. Also, Barry Habib, who’s on the board at Fannie, was asked by Pulte to help craft new LLPAs, but nothing has come of it to date. Habib is a popular figure in mortgage. If Bessent gets a big say in who runs the FHFA, expect someone w/ direct housing finance experience.

The former FDIC board member & former CFPB nominee is one of the administration's top financial regulators & a deputy to Bessent. He's well-respected in banking circles & has the policy background to oversee Fannie & Freddie. If Trump wanted a serious financial-regulation figure rather than a housing-industry personality, McKernan would be a smart choice.

Bit of a wildcard here, but Calabria obviously ran FHFA during Trump's first term & remains influential among conservatives who favor releasing the twins. If the White House wanted to accelerate privatization efforts, I believe his name would resurface very quickly. Calabria was recently appointed as Chief Statistician of the United States.

An big MAGA fan, the rapper has learned a lot about mortgages in the last year. She narrowly avoided losing her $20M LA home after it was at risk of being sold off due to Minaj & her husband refusing to pay a $503K debt. Per Rolling Stone, Minaj & her husband struck a last-minute deal w/ a security guard who sued them after he was allegedly assaulted at a Germany concert. Minaj had a $13.3M mortgage lien on the home.

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